{"id":704253,"date":"2026-07-21T23:57:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T23:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/704253\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T23:57:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T23:57:09","slug":"zelenskyy-fires-ukraines-army-chief-and-offers-fedorov-prominent-position-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/704253\/","title":{"rendered":"Zelenskyy fires Ukraine\u2019s army chief and offers Fedorov \u2018prominent position\u2019 | Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fired Ukraine\u2019s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and offered a \u201cprominent position\u201d to the defence minister he sacked last week in a move that sparked nationwide protests<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a late-night TV address, Zelenskyy said he was appointing Mykhailo Drapatyi, a popular and innovative general, as the new head of Ukraine\u2019s armed forces. Drapatyi would oversee a reorganisation of the army\u2019s command structure, Ukraine\u2019s president said.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy said he was bringing Mykhailo Fedorov back into government after his removal as defence minister<\/a> prompted thousands of people to demonstrate in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, in one of the biggest political crises since Russia\u2019s 2022 invasion.<\/p>\n

Volodymyr Zelenskyy with Oleksandr Syrskyi at the handover of drone missiles to the Ukrainian army in Kyiv in December 2024. Photograph: Sergey Dolzhenko\/EPA<\/p>\n

Ukraine\u2019s president paid tribute to Syrskyi and credited him with leading the defence of Kyiv and launching a counter-invasion of Russia\u2019s Kursk province in summer 2024, in which foreign tanks rolled on to Russian territory for the first time since the second world war.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have come a long way. The defence of Ukraine continues. And every soldier deserves to be treated with respect,\u201d Zelenskyy said, adding that he was grateful to Syrskyi and to \u201cevery one of our soldiers\u201d fighting on the frontline.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy will be hoping that his radical reshuffle of the army\u2019s leadership will assuage protesters who have taken to the streets demanding Syrskyi\u2019s removal. They had given a deadline of Friday for Fedorov to be reinstated and promised \u201cindefinite protests\u201d if their request was ignored.<\/p>\n

\"WhyWhy Ukrainians are protesting against Zelenskyy\u2019s dismissal of defence minister \u2013\u00a0video<\/p>\n

Fedorov welcomed Drapatyi\u2019s appointment. \u201cThis brings a breath of fresh air and new hope to the struggle of free people for freedom and justice. It is a voice for change that could not be ignored,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe high expectations of the Ukrainian people must be met with a clear vision for ending the war for independence, a strong team and decisive actions aimed at saving the lives of our soldiers, automating the frontline, delivering asymmetric strikes and crippling the Russian economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drapatyi, the new commander-in-chief, is well-regarded within Ukraine\u2019s army and is liked by the public. He is viewed as an ally of Fedorov, whose attempts to reform the military and force it to adopt modern technology and data led to a bitter clash with the old-school Syrskyi.<\/p>\n

A major general, Drapatyi is commander of Ukraine\u2019s joint forces group. He has been fighting Russia since its covert attempt in 2014 to take over the eastern Donbas region. He became famous nationally when he drove an infantry fighting vehicle over a barricade<\/a> set up by pro-Russian militants in the city of Mariupol.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian media outlet Babel described Drapatyi as one of Ukraine\u2019s most capable battlefield commanders. It said his new job would be fundamentally about reforming a large institution rather than commanding troops in combat.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy said he and Drapatyi agreed that Ukraine\u2019s long-range drone attacks on targets in Russia such as oil refineries would continue. \u201cOur programme of precision strikes will be implemented with absolute precision,\u201d he said, promising a smooth and coordinated handover following Syrskyi\u2019s departure.<\/p>\n

He also said the new commander-in-chief would be tasked with updating the country\u2019s defence strategy and reforming its structure. Another pressing issue is mobilisation, at a time when after nearly five years of full-scale war few Ukrainians are ready to volunteer.<\/p>\n

It is unclear what Fedorov\u2019s new role will be, amid reports that he was insisting on being given his old job back as defence minister. This has now been filled by Yevhen Khmara, a former special operations commander.<\/p>\n

Yevhen Khmara replaced Mykhailo Fedeorov as Ukraine\u2019s defence minister. Photograph: Ukrainian presidential press service\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy said he met Fedorov on Tuesday. \u201cI offered Mykhailo a prominent position within the government that would enable him to unify the technological sector of our state and ensure its development,\u201d he said, without giving further details.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy added: \u201cOur shared wish is one \u2013 victory over the enemy and conditions at the front and in pressure on Russia that would force Russia toward peace.\u201d He said \u201ca significant path has been travelled, the defence of Ukraine continues, and every warrior deserves dignified treatment\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fired Ukraine\u2019s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and offered a \u201cprominent position\u201d to the defence minister he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":704254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-704253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=704253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/704254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=704253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=704253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=704253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}